PHNOM PENH: The report of the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation shows that in the first 7 months of 2022, 112 new factories opened in Cambodia, creating work for more than 70,000 workers. Meanwhile, in the same period, 47 factories closed, indicating a loss of more than 16,000 jobs.

The Ministry did not disclose the reasons for the closure of 47 factories, however, comparing the number of new and closed factories, the number of newly opened factories is more than half. There are a total of 1,947 factories currently operating in Cambodia, employing more than 1 million people (1,044,226), including nearly 800,000 women (793,028) with an investment of more than US $15 billion.

According to the Ministry, the value of the products produced by the Cambodian industry is about US $7.5 billion, of which more than US $5.26 billion worth of products were exported.

Heng Sok Kong, a Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, confirmed that the growth of the industrial sector in recent years has risen to nearly 40% compared to other sectors. He added that the industrial sector will grow even more as Cambodia pushes the production chain to a higher level of automation in the future.